Despite his male model-worthy looks and popularity with the fashion community, True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgård has remained a rare exception in the oversaturated world of designer-actor-musician collaborations, never formally endorsing any label or brand. Maybe he’s simply been saving himself for a truly a propos opportunity, which appears to have arrived, thanks to Calvin Klein. The sexy and stern luxury empire has cast the sexy and stern Skarsgård as the face for its new men’s fragrance, Encounter.

The blue-lit, dramatically shot campaign shows the Swedish actor in the throes of romancing a mysterious woman. It looks how the scent should make you feel: daring, of course. Skarsgård describes the concept as similar to a short film, “very film noir.” He tells WWD: “It felt interesting to me. I wanted to be involved with something where you tell a story — even though it’s a short story.” A passionate and tension-fueled story that doesn’t involve bloodsucking? Even more daring.

“Alexander Skarsgård perfectly reflects the Encounter attitude — modern, stylish and unapologetically masculine,” Coty Prestige’s senior vice president of American fragrances, Catherine Walsh, told WWD. In other words, full-blooded, vibrant and alive – all the qualities vampire sheriff Eric Northman would (literally) kill for. The unconventionally blended scent reflects that ideal: Mandarin, musk, pepper, jasmine, and even rum factor into the spicy range of concoctions, which will hit shelves in September, retailing for $40 to $72.